Mark Few has guided Gonzaga to more than a few wins. What would he tell a program looking for a similar rise?
UNCASVILLE—Never has a surname offered such blatantly false advertising than that of Mark Few's, at least in a Spokane sense.
Few has amassed 773 (and presumably counting) wins at the helm of the Gonzaga Bulldogs' men's basketball program. He has turned the mid-major group into one of the most consistently contending squads of the college game.
The "Zags" have reached every edition of the NCAA Tournament staged since Few ascended to the top perch in Spokane in 1999. His victories are fifth-most among Division I coaches that have stayed at a single school. Gonzaga has also reached two men's national championship games, being one of only two teams outside of the traditional basketball power conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, original Pac-12) to do so next to Butler in 2010-11 (then members of the Horizon League).
The work of Few has officially been immortalized after last weekend, which saw the 14-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. It's perhaps the perfect reward for Few as one of the fruits of his labors, namely entry into the rebooted version of the Pac-12 Conference, looms when the Bulldogs return to action this fall.
"I know he's an unbelievable coach and [created] a great program from kind of a mid-major school, not like a Kentucky or whatever," Few's fellow 2026 nominee Mike D'Antoni said at pre-induction availability at Mohegan Sun prior to immortalization in Springfield. "But he's taken it to heights that are incredible ... . I love the way they play, their style, and it's obviously great to get him here. He's a great coach."
Gone-zaga?
The idea of a modern mid-major duplicating Gonzaga's journey toward the top was enough of a fantasy as it was. Some pessimistically say it's now impossible in the era of NIL and the transfer portal, where the prospects of accomplished smaller schools essentially get called up to the big leagues after the slightest sign of hardwood prowess.
While it may be tough to maintain with the allure of the big schools always looming, Few acknowledged that familiarity both on the floor and the administration offices has helped Gonzaga keep its current place on the hardwood hierarchy.
"Have a growth mindset and have great communication," Few said of his advice to the next would-be Gonzaga. "Have something where the coach, athletic director, president, board, benefactors, kind of all have that same vision. Then just basically trust your coach and kind of let him do his thing. That's kind of how how it happened. It's rare, though. Usually egos get involved and politics get involved and that's why it's so rare."
To Few's point, the university has gone through but two athletic directors during his historic tenure: Mike Roth pre-dated his arrival by two years while Chris Standiford has been in charge since 2021. Few lauded Standiford for using his time in waiting well, praising him for carrying on the tradition of "great people" that have kept the Bulldogs running with the Huskies, Wildcats, and more.
Turning As A Team
Furthering Few's arguments that a team effort launched him to Springfield and other restricted areas of college basketball was the fact that he credited Spokane's turning point to a run where he played but a supporting part.
Gonzaga officially introduced itself to college basketball's elite in 1999, when Few was an assistant coach under Dan Monson. A team led by Richie Frahm was seeded 10th and carried nary an NCAA Tournament win to its name, but the Bulldogs took a bite of their dire history. In that tournament, they earned wins over power conference reps Minnesota, Stanford, and Florida before taking eventual national champion Connecticut to the brink in the regional final round.
No matter what transpired after that, the Bulldog program would carry at least some form of immortality. The 1999 team's postseason endeavors would no doubt be name-dropped in the March Madness festivities when viewers spoke about Cinderella stories in their annual recitals.
Instead, it convinced Few, called upon to succeed the Minnesota-bound Monson, that a ceiling on success never existed.
"We always kept a growth mindset, and we were never happy," Few said of the early years of the Bulldogs' rise. "We made that first run to the Elite Eight in '99, and we just did not [let up]. My mantra was just to not be a one-hit wonder ... We were never content with where we were.
"Luckily for us, the school shared that growth mindset. I think one of the great things is we were always pulling the rope in the same direction. It just made it a lot easier. Then I think everybody got to realize the impact that having a successful college program can have on a university, but also kind of on a city and a region. It just kept going from there."
One of the most successful coaches in college basketball history officially enters the @Hoophall 🔥
— ESPN (@espn) August 15, 2026
Gonzaga legend Mark Few has been inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 👏 pic.twitter.com/8k5ctuSUPe
Last Bone for the Bulldogs
While the allure of winning a new conference looms large, one can argue there's ... well, few ... things more than Few and his Bulldogs can accomplish beyond the obvious national championship. That feeling perhaps only exacerbates in this so-called era of "one-and-done." Gonzaga frontcourt threat Massamba Diop, formerly of Arizona State, is projected as a late first-round pick in premature 2027 drafts
Don't expect Few to let up, no matter how fleeting modern success may be and no matter how firmly he has entrenched himself with the greats.
"I'm just competitive in everything I do," Few said of his further fuel. "Year-to-year, it's always a challenge to get the absolute most out of every team or every group you're with ... The ultimate goal is, after they're done playing at GU, they move on to the next level. That's what they all want. Buying in and owning that, that's kind of what fuels everything."
This year's Gonzaga group features touted transfer finds Diop and Javon Bennett (Dayton). They'll work with incumbent Bulldogs Davis Fogle and Braden Huff, who won the program's last WCC title. The tour is set to get underway on Nov. 2 when they face Purdue in Las Vegas.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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